Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with odor

Unconventional air fresheners

cazoo — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 11:16:33 -0800

Coffee beans as an air freshener? I read somewhere on the net that coffee beans are good to leave around the house as their scent helps to clean the nasal palate and eliminate other odors.

What other natural ingredients may be used in this same way? Conventional air fresheners like candles, flowers, and sprays make me physically ill for some odd reason.

Help me stop the house from reeking like a restaurant after closing.

winna — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 08:43:24 -0800

My living room smells like a restaurant. It does not smell like food, but like the old, greasy, disgusting smell left on your clothes when you leave the restaurant if you work there. This is making my living room unbearable. What is this smell? My apartment is in a four-apartment block in a complex owned by a management company in the western Piedmont of North Carolina. A couple of months ago my downstairs and next door neighbors moved out and the company renovated the apartments immediately below and beside me.

I noticed at that point a smell which I described as 'sausages' to the rental lady, but what familiarity over time has led me to describe as 'restaurant'. It was not initially a constant smell. It consistently can be smelled at 13:00 and 23:00. It has been getting worse. It does not appear to be related to whether or not the heat or a/c is on.

I have taken Great Stuff and plugged up the holes where my pipes route through the wall. The smell is not coming from my kitchen. It comes from the living room near the front door. It happened when I did not have anyone living next door or below me, so I'm at a loss to know where the smell is coming from.

I am at my wit's end. The apartment complex management has not listened to me, probably because this sounds like such a crazy problem. Can anyone give me anything that it might be, based on the description of the smell? I can't be any more precise than to say that it's almost exactly like the smell in the back of a restaurant after closing - a vague, bad, greasy 'food' smell with no actual food qualities about it.

My Roommate's Junk Smells

Anonymous — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 14:27:55 -0800

My roommate smells, and it's not just typical BO. Help! I live in a typical (read: small) college dorm room with one other person.

In the past few weeks, I've noticed that my roommate has developed an odor. It's not bad breath, or typical BO. It smells distinctly... cheesy. In a really nasty "this isn't a good smell" kind of way. Specifically, I've noticed the smell when he removes his jeans as he is going to bed. My desk is very close to his bed, and after repeated instances of this, I can say with some assuredness that the smell is eminating from his pelvic area. It's very noticeable, and it can be pretty hard at times not to comment on the sudden foul odor that has started assaulting my nostrils immediately following the removal of his jeans.

What finally drove me to make the AskMe question I've been putting off about this is that I came back to the room after going to lunch, opened the door, and hit a wall of the odor. I discovered my roommate taking a nap in his bed, the air absolutely saturated with the repugnant smell in question. I opened my window and door to get air moving, went out into the hall, and found the smell was strong enough to seep into the hall and smell just as bad. I borrowed air freshener from the people in the next room, and even THEY noticed the smell coming from the hallway! That just isn't right!

He used to be pretty sexually active, with many a partner, due mostly to the lowered inhibitions/standards caused by drinking excessive amounts of alcohol (I'm not juding, really, he's admitted this to be the case multiple times). But I've noticed he has been completely abstinent lately (to my knowledge), and it coincides rather neatly with the debut of his new fragrance.

I have two main questions. First, what is up with my roommate's junk? Why does it smell the way it does? Answers from personal experience, educated guesses/conjecture from "I am not a doctor," "I'm a doctor but not YOUR (ROOMMATE'S) doctor," and the like are all welcome.

Second, what can I do about this situation? Should I put up with it since the end of the year is quickly approaching? Maybe a buy a ton of febreeze? Should I bring it up? If so, how?

I can be reached at anonymousmefi@gmail.com if you have any questions. If I have followups or new information I'll try and get in touch with one of the mods to have them post it in the thread.

Thanks for any and all help you can offer.

Weird-smelling menstrual blood?

Anonymous — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 07:11:18 -0800

Should I worry about weird-smelling menstrual blood? My menstrual blood smells strongly of vinegar. This is the first time this has happened. Does this mean there is some kind of problem?

Most economical way to make your house smell good?

tanminivan — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 00:44:50 -0800

What's the most economical way to make your house/apartment smell good? My apartment doesn't smell bad, but it doesn't really smell good, either. I've tried a few candles, potpourri, aerosol sprays, and plug-in air fresheners that all work at varying degrees of effectiveness, but they usually don't last long and they're expensive.

I already keep my place fairly clean by vacuuming, cleaning the bathroom, disinfecting countertops, sweeping and mopping often. I try to open the windows as much as possible, as weather permits.

I've searched Ask Me, but most questions seem to be on removing odors, not solely providing pleasant ones. I did find this thread at Yahoo Answers where a few people said simmering some water with cinnamon and/or your favorite scent was a pretty good way to make your house smell good. I haven't tried this, but I'd imagine the smell would fade after several hours (correct me if I'm wrong). I'm looking for something more long-term.

So, has anyone found any other low cost ways of improving odors for a long period of time?

(Also, if it helps, I'd have to say my favorite scent is vanilla.)

I don't want to wash my dishes after I wash my dishes, either...

odi.et.amo — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 07:05:45 -0800

How can I get rid of my dishwasher's funk? There is some form of foul smelling beast living in the drain of my dishwasher and it has started to impart its scent on my dishes. Tap and filtered water both smell almost fishy if I don't first fill the glass with water and pour it out to get rid of the odor. Likewise for other food and baked goods that are on or were made in things washed in my dishwasher.

How can I get rid of the funk? So far, I've tried bleach and copious amounts of baking soda + vinegar. It helped reduce the general funk, but it always reappears when I run the dishwasher and stays on the dishes.

Help for killing a mildew odor that I can't smell myself

The Giant Squid — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 21:14:14 -0800

How do I kill a mildew smell -behind- a sink? My wife can apparently smell mildew coming from the vicinity of our kitchen sink. I can't, so I chock this up to the her pregnancy-induced super-sense-of-smell. We have this sort of bizarre set up, where I ask her if she can smell it, and where she can smell it.

Anyways, the kitchen sink apparently -did- have a leak underneath it, some time ago, although that has been fixed (months and months ago).

There remains a small possibility of some leakage within the wall behind it, but there are no telltale signs, aside from my wife smelling the mildew.

So, assuming there is no further leakage (which would mean ripping the cabinets out of the wall), what can I do to kill the mildew smell?

I smell feet

peep — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 10:34:43 -0800

I smell feet. For the past 2 weeks, I smell a foot odor constantly. It feels a little dry and/or itchy underneath my cheekbones. Could this be the beginning of a sinus infection? But here are some complicating factors:

1. I don't feel sick - not one bit. No headache, and I wouldn't even describe the cheekbone feeling as "pressure." No body aches, fever, etc.
2. I have no mucus, and I'm not congested. I can breathe completely freely.
3. The feeling under my cheekbones is on both sides, so I don't think it's a tooth thing. Also, I just saw the dentist this week, and if I had teeth rotting to the point of giving off an odor, I think he would have noticed.
4. I've had this for 2 weeks, and nothing's changed. At some point, wouldn't I actually start to feel sick, or start expelling some mucus?

My husband tells me he doesn't smell anything and insists the smell is not emanating FROM me in anyway.

I've been irrigating my sinuses with a neti pot each morning. Anything else I can do? I've heard that the current thought on sinus infections is that for mild to moderate ones, antibiotics aren't necessary. This is a first for me. Have you ever smelled a foot smell like this before, and what was it?

I've seen this question , and I wouldn't characterize this smell as bleachy or like propane, and that poster definitely had some mucus going on, which seems to differentiate our problems.

P.U. It's a little whiffy in here.

cuddles.mcsnuggy — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 08:07:14 -0800

I have a coworker with intermittent odor issues (cigarette smoke and stinky food) and am hoping for some new suggestions in dealing with them. Non-confrontational, passive methods preferred. Background: She sits in the next cubical. Our walls are short, rising only about to our chins when seated, so we are all within view of each other (there are about 150 people on my floor). Her head is literally just 3' from mine. Now, I like this person very much and she does not have body odor or any other persistant smell. The problem is that she only stinks a few times a day. She loves popcorn, and sits in her cube munching but the wafting fetid "popcorn breath" is strong and nauseating. It's enough to peel wallpaper. She also loves stinky lunches, favoring raw onions and cruciferous noshings such as broccoli soup or saurkraut. She's a heavy smoker and when she returns from her breaks 2 or 3 times a day, the cigarette stink is strong, far reaching, and long lasting. Now don't get me wrong; I enjoy the occasional smelly lunch myself and I don't judge her for smoking. I just want to be able to get through the day without my poor nose being assaulted to the point of nausea and lightheadedness.

I have tried the Oust fan, and found that though it's effective, it's not an ongoing option. When coworker came back a-stinkin' I'd discreetly turn on the Oust fan & put it under my monitor pointed at my face. Though I don't care for the scent (it gives me a headache) it did work to blast away the stink, but caused its own problems.... namely the girl across the aisle apparently hated it; so much that she started turning her own large high-power fan directly at my cube and spraying perfume into it. That was obnoxious. But she stopped when I got rid of the Oust. The Oust has been Ousted. So now I'm back at square one. I do have a couple of plants in my cube. Does anyone have suggestions for things such as a gadget or another specific type of plant that would help? Not static air fresheners (the kind that just continually put out scent like the plug-ins, glade thingies, or potpourri pots), I don't think they'd do anything for the overpowering sudden-onset odors. I'd prefer something I can do just when she starts to stink... does anyone have experience with those electronic air purifiers? Any specific models I should check out? Are there any pleasant flowering easy-care plants that would suck up the smell (that are not a type of lily), maybe if I turned a fan on it now & then? I'm considering refilling the oil bottle for my Oust fan with a more friendly scent like vanilla or apple or somesuch but I'm also hoping for a fallback in case obnoxious perfume girl hates that too. Talking to the stinker, moving to another cube, or reporting her to leadership is not an option. I'd like to keep this as polite, private, and passive as possible so that my personal space alone is odor-cleansed without offending anyone else. I've already viewed these MeFi threads and didn't find much that was helpful. I appreciate any new thoughts!

Help me with wood stain and varnish fumes.

Zinger — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 16:23:19 -0800

Suggestions for getting rid of the smell of wood stain/varnish? We just bought a nice buffet/hutch for our dining room, and we had it stained to match our existing dining room table. The problem is, it reeks. It's winter here so wide open windows really isn't an option, and so far I've tried: bowls full of bicarb soda, bowls full of white vinegar, and one of those air filter/hepa/ionizer thingies. It's moderately better, but still enough to knock you over. Any ideas?

How do I get fried chicken smell out of not-very-washable clothing items?

fiercecupcake — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 07:46:55 -0800

How do I get fried chicken smell out of fabrics? I would just wash them, but two of them (a jacket and a shawl) aren't very washable. We made fried chicken last night, and now everything we were wearing smells like fried chicken -- her jacket, my sweatshirt, and my shawl. This is making me really unhappy.

I Googled and searched AskMe and I am not getting anywhere. Baking soda? Vanilla extract? Coffee beans? Time? I'm not keen on Febreeze, but if someone tells me that's the only thing that works, I guess I'll do it.

How to de-stinkify a musty bassinet

SobaFett — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 10:12:59 -0800

We're expecting our second child in the next couple of weeks, and I (foolishly) stored the co-sleeper/bassinet that we used with our first in the basement for the last two years. Now it smells musty. I need as benign a solution to the odor as possible. I don't want to put a newborn in a musty bassinet to sleep, but I also don't want to use harsh chemicals on something where she'll spend several hours a night (fingers crossed). What will work best? Will one of those passive odor absorbers like an air sponge, or that German metal thingie be sufficient, or do I need to use something that I actually apply to the surface fabric?

Removing a powerfully bad smell?

beckish — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 21:15:14 -0800

So I got this beautiful antique chest of drawers which is perfect except that it stinks, really badly...please help. The insides of the drawers are sticky with what I can only assume is really, really awful old perfume. I tried putting the drawers on the fire escape to air out but the chest stinks even more with the drawers out. Now I have the drawers back in with a pile of baking soda in each one. Is there any hope?

Tips/Tricks for dealing with the side-effects of a nearby skunking?

CKmtl — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 17:37:32 -0800

Barring nose plugs and closing windows, is there a way to eliminate the ambient skunk stench that's wafting into the house? I'm guessing either a neighbourhood pet has run afoul of a skunk or a skunk has run afoul of a car/truck nearby. Whichever the case may be, the eye-watering reek is finding its way in.

Removing the window fans for the sake of this temporary gas attack doesn't seem worthwhile, since it will dissipate in a couple hours or so. However, this happens a few times every summer and fall, so any workable tricks would be appreciated.

Smelly cat, smelly cat, it's not your fault.

iguanapolitico — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 11:49:48 -0800

What might be the cause of my cat's new odor? Last Monday or Tuesday night, my cat (Wampa) was outside for several hours, an activity that is not unusual for her. I let her in the house early in the morning, and then got back in bed and went to sleep. Wampa also came to bed a short while later.

A short while after that, I started to notice an odor that I couldn't quite place, but I was sleeping with the windows wide open so I imagined it was from something outside, which also isn't unusual.

A short while later I had an epiphany and recognized the odor as skunk. I was pretty sure it was skunk, but I'm familiar with skunk odor and I just wasn't 100% sure. Then I fell asleep.

Later that day when we were all awake and out of bed, and after I had not noticed the smell for a while and had forgotten about it, Wampa came to me and I realized the odor was coming from her. It was strong enough that I could smell it when she walked by, but it wasn't overwhelming. It smelled, again, kind of skunky. I presumed that she had been sprayed by one while she was outside cavorting.

But now it's been almost a week and she still smells. The smell is definitely concentrated around her face. And it just doesn't smell quite like skunk anymore. It smells more like, well, burning rubber or something that you'd smell on the highway. (Though not skunk, which you might also smell on the highway.) But I've never had a pet that was skunk-sprayed before ... does the odor change/morph over the course of a week? How long does it take to go away (sans bath)?

And, what ELSE might it be?

My cousin had a cat who would get an infection from time to time and when it flared up he smelled. But it wasn't the same smell.

Does anybody have any ideas? She is otherwise acting 100% normal. No excessive licking or any other odd behavior.

To the vet next weekend if this doesn't go away. I mean if this is just what it's like when a skunk gets ya, that's fine. It's just not quite what I imagined that would be like.

my qtips smell like grandma now.

penciltopper — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 15:09:00 -0800

How do I get rid of "old-lady smell"? You know that smell? Of old makeup and expired vitamins?
Well the place I've moved into is great except that the bathroom drawers are soaked in that smell.

The drawers are made out of (ply) wood, and I have no experience getting odors out of wood. What's going to work?

How to defunk my junk?

Bravely Anonymous — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 06:07:46 -0800

My man crevices smell of yeast but it's not acting like a topical yeast infection. It won't go away and the dermatologist was useless. Helllp! Gentlemen, a word please. In the creases betwixt thighs and junk there lurks a pungent aroma of what I guess is yeast. It's been going on for years now but doesn't seem to be a yeast infection. Gotta get rid of this embarassing thing as I attempt to reenter the dating pool.

I've seen threads here about foul crotch and ballstank but this isn't really a terrible smell and doesn't make my eyes water like that one poor guy. I don't have anything to compare it to, though. It might not be considered a bad smell if it came from somewhere other than my FREAKING PANTS.

Some possibly useful history: Visited NYC for a few days in the height of summer years ago. Walking everywhere and sweating. After a couple days, my taint felt raw. Pretty soon it was so bad it became a weepy lesion and I could barely walk. Neosporin didn't do much at all. Came home and the doctor said it had been a yeast infection. "On a guy?" I asked. Yep, he said. I thought you needed a mucous membrane for that but no, just a warm, moist, dark area, such as one's junkal region in NYC in summer, walking everywhere. The beasties can just live on skin. I've got maybe 25 extra lbs on me, so that makes the whole area smooshier and more rubby. Happened again a few years ago in steamy backwater Mexico. They gave me clotrimazole and it fixed it.

So those were known yeast infections, raw feeling, painful and terrible red irritation, but I noticed no smell. What I've had for a while now gives no pain or irritation or itch at all, but fingers sent down into the trenches to investigate come away with a very noticeable sweet-ish yeast smell. I don't see how that can't be yeast, but it isn't behaving like yeast.

Before you ask, I do shower daily and give it all a soapy how's-your-father. I wear boxers, fresh ones each day. No foreskin to worry about and it's not on the actual junk itself anyway. Jock itch spray and cream treatments won't banish it for more than a couple days, nor will clotrimazole cream, which is apparently the gold standard. The dermatologist said to use Zeasorb (miconazole) powder, but that didn't kill it either. And he seemed to characterize that more as daily preventive, to keep things dry, than a curative. I don't think something like Gold Bond or baby powder is up to the challenge when the heavy ordnance did nothing.

WTF?! I can't have this. It's an instant DQ in amorous situations. None of the known orifices welcome delegations thusly scented. Anybody know what it is, why I have it, and how I can get rid of it? Bless you in advance.

New House & New Sufur Smell - What do we do?!

tastybrains — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 20:23:54 -0800

We've just moved into a new house and we've noticed a strange odor both inside and outside most nights since we've been here. It's our first house ever and we're at a loss with regards what to do... We just moved into a house in Nashua, NH. We have noticed that many evenings over the past two weeks, there has been a slightly sulfur smell inside the house and also outside.

At first we thought that it might be because the dump is 2 miles away, but that seems kind of strange that so many people in our relatively nice neighborhood would tolerate something like that. We also used to live near a swamp so we thought it might be something swampy...but it doesn't quite smell the same as a swamp. Definitely more acrid, and less like frogs and mosquitoes.

Tonight I noticed the smell again, as did my husband. We noticed it mostly in the garage and in the upstairs hallway. I went outside to compare concentrations and I can barely smell it outside. So now I'm freaking out that it could be the house...

We do have LP tanks outside (opposite side as the garage where we are smelling the odor) and another concern is that it could be sewer gas.

Our plan is to call the gas company first thing tomorrow to have them come by and check our tanks & everything. Then our plan is to call a plumber to check for sewer gas or anything plumbing related.

So...do these seem like reasonable things to check out? Is there anything else we should look into if we can't find an answer?

And how do we find a good plumber if it comes to that??? We are new to this area and don't know anyone around here. I'm really kind of worried and upset about all this. I don't even trust my own nose. My husband thinks I might be overreacting because I do tend to go towards the worst case scenario, but I don't think it's unreasonable to find a nightly sulfur stink in my new house unacceptable.

I smell gas

jules1651 — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 19:40:16 -0800

We just moved in to a new apartment with a gas stove/range. When we run the oven, even though the pilot light is lit and it heats up, there is a strong gas smell. We freaked out and turned it off but is this dangerous? Is it possible that it just smells of gas right away but it would dissipate in a few minutes? I would call the landlord right away but we already called with a laundry list of problems today so I'd like to avoid a follow up if at all possible.

Ambient bad apartment smell?

everichon — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 14:28:22 -0800

We just bought a house with a separate, finished apartment. The apartment turns out to have a smell, and we can't figure out where it's coming from. The smell is bad: part must, part mildew, and part warmed catfood. So my questions are: 1. Does this smell sound familiar to anyone? (As in, "Oho, that's plainly mildew he's talking about; he should check the blah blah!") 2. Ways to pinpoint an ambient smell? I am going under the apartment this afternoon :( but if I i don't find any carcasses under there, I am out of moves.

Overpowering kitchen sink stench threatens life on earth

autojack — Sun, 13 May 2007 10:28:01 -0800

My kitchen sink drain stinks! I've tried a couple of different things to fix it, and done some Googling, but the stench remains. Help! I have a pretty standard deep kitchen sink, with a garbage disposal, from whose drain emanates a foul stink. My attempts to dispel the odor have so far failed me:

1. I've pretty much stopped using the disposal for anything other than light leftover plate scrapings - a few grains of rice or lentils or an errant noodle or two.
2. I've tried filling the sink completely with hot soapy water, then letting it drain while running the disposal.
3. I've tried pouring a kettle of boiling water through it.
4. I've dumped most of a box of baking soda in it.

I'm just assuming that the main reason for this smell is that the inside of the disposal is coated in a rank slime built up over years and years of use by tenants of this apartment who passed before me. I'm just surprised that none of my efforts have been able to eradicate it. If you have a suggestion, preferrably one that doesn't involve taking apart the drain or disposal unit, I'm all ears.

FeetFilter - Need a shoe insert

deeman — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 19:46:32 -0800

FeetFilter - Looking a great shoe insert I can put in my gym sneakers that provide anti-odor, are moisture absorbent, and provide support and cushioning. I don't want to get a cheap pair and would rather spend the money on something thats reliable and durable. Any suggestions? I was looking at the following:
- CAPI (Cushioned Anti-Pronoation Inserts):
http://www.shoeinserts.com/
- ShockBlockers:
http://www.oregonaero.com/p109_04.html

Smelly plastic

mphuie — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 15:11:26 -0800

How do I get the smell out of the plastic cases i just bought? I bought a box of 100 slim DVD cases. They are black plastic with a clear sleeve on the outside. Here is the exact product [supermediastore.com]

They smell terrible. Like they were locked up in a closet full of bad air. They must have been sitting in a factory for a really long time.

I have tried washing one with soap and water, but the smell is still there. It is also a pain to dry out because of the clear plastic cover (water won't dry sandwiched between).

How do I get rid of the smell? I've noticed the ones that have been used and are on my shelf arent as bad as the ones in the box, but they still smell.

Smelly Kitchen

Noodles — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 05:48:07 -0800

I live in an apartment and when I cook (indian food) the whole place reeks of exotic spices. Does anyone know of an airpurifier that will filter out the offensive odor. I do not have a outside vent in my kitchen.

Strange engine odor

I_Love_Bananas — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 15:51:39 -0800

Why does my engine smell like butterscotch? Seriously... after running for any length of time, my engine has an odor that can only be described as butterscotch-y.

What could be causing this?